From Heart to Head: Preparing Your Narrative for Federal Grants
Transitioning from foundation-driven storytelling to federal grant writing isn’t just a tweak; it’s a mindset shift. Your narrative must evolve from heartfelt anecdotes to rigorous, structured arguments.
The following table gives a general overview of the broad spectrum of grant writing, from writing for family foundations to writing for federal grants. And there is quite a mushy middle here. A Ford Foundation or Robert Wood Johnson Foundation proposal had better look more like a federal grant than a family foundation grant, if you want to succeed.
If most of your grant writing examples look and feel more like a family foundation grant, but you are interested in building additional skills and a more diverse grant proposal portfolio, the following questions and tasks can help you start to transition your writing.
1. Tone and Storytelling Depth
Does my introduction start with a clear, objective summary before any emotional hook?
How can I translate emotional language into formal, evidence-based language that still captivates?
Task: Draft both versions—emotion-forward and data-forward—and choose the one that meets federal standards while staying readable.
2. Structure and Formatting Flexibility
How can I refine my grant proposal outline to create a more structured approach? What of my existing grant narratives would align with typical federal grant narrative sections?
Can I outline the narrative based directly on the RFP’s evaluation criteria?
Task: Select a federal RFP that appears to be a good fit for your organization. Create an outline and attempt to copy and paste the foundation narrative into it. You’ll identify holes in your template language, and you can start to understand what types of additional writing you’ll need to undertake.
3. Audience Expectations
Who are my reviewers—technical experts or generalists—and what do they expect in terms of detail and jargon?
Have I eliminated vague terms or defined them clearly?
Task: Ask a colleague unfamiliar with your field to read one of your grant narratives for clarity and completeness.
4. Problem Statement Framing
Is the problem grounded in empirical data and backed by research, external evaluation, or rigorous assessments?
Can I pair any anecdotes with supporting data or citations?
Task: Cite at least one peer-reviewed article or local data source alongside any story. It might take some time to find, but it will strengthen even your family foundation proposals.
5. Goals and Objectives Presentation
Are my objectives SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound?
Am I quantifying targets (like “increase X by 15% in 12 months”)?
Task: Rewrite objectives into bullet-point SMART statements before integrating them into the narrative.
6. Use of Emotional Appeals
Have I toned down emotional phrasing and ensured anecdotes are backed by data?
Can every anecdote be objectively supported? How can you take the essence of a single person’s story and zoom out to understand the impacts on a geographic area?
Task: Flag emotional sentences and evaluate whether they satisfy analytical criteria. Also flag adjectives and adverbs. Use them sparingly.
7. Credibility and Authority
Have I highlighted our organization’s or staff’s qualifications appropriate to the opportunity? For example, if you are applying for federal funding, have you shared staff experiences with previous federal grants or peer-reviewed experience?
Is each key claim in the narrative backed by credentials or past project results?
Task: Collect key staff member bios and write a paragraph about each that summarizes their most impressive credentials and contributions.
8. Narrative vs Detailed Methodology
Does my narrative include step-by-step methods, staff responsibilities, timelines, and protocols?
Can I incorporate visuals like logic models, flowcharts, or tables?
Task: Sketch your methodology visually first (Back of napkin? Ok!), then translate each part into detailed narrative prose.
9. Formatting Freedom
Have I strictly followed the required font, spacing, and margin guidelines with no creative deviations?
Are headings and attachments matching the RFP exactly?
Task: Create and use a formatting checklist to verify compliance before submission.
10. Narrative Length and Density
Are major paragraphs punchy and coherent, able to be scanned by reviewers trained to spot answers quickly?
Is the length of each section proportional to its scoring weight?
Task: Count words/pages per section and reshuffle content to align with evaluation priorities.
11. Tailoring and Customization
Am I using the exact language and priorities stated in the RFP? How much creativity have I used to “fit” into the funder’s priorities?
Have I cross-referenced each RFP requirement to ensure it’s addressed in the narrative?
Task: Highlight key phrases in the RFP and ensure each appears in your proposal at least once.
12. Evaluation Language and Outcome Focus
Can I replaced general “impact” language with quantified performance indicators and data-collection plans?
Does the narrative reference federal evaluation frameworks like logic models or data collection requirements?
Task: Build a table of indicators, methods, frequency, and responsibilities. Then summarize it in the text.
These are the types of skills grant writers are learning and developing in the Federal Grants Accelerator. It’s a no-shame space to receive in-depth training, ask questions, and get answers.
Federal grant writing can feel totally daunting at first, but there are baby steps we can take on the way. And whether you ever write a federal grant or not, these steps will improve your grant proposals.